The Samsung Lions, a professional baseball team aiming to win the Korean Series this season, switched to game-mode practice. Foreign pitcher Matt Manning made his first appearance.
Samsung set up its second camp in Okinawa, Japan, on the 9th. Manager Park Jin-man said, "Since the primary goals in Guam were well accomplished, I think we should focus on skill improvement at the second camp in Okinawa."
Samsung held an internal evaluation game at Akama Ballpark on the 17th. Unlike regular games, it was played as a 7-inning game with the 10th batter rule.
The blue team set its starting lineup as center fielder Lee Seong-gyu, left fielder Kang Min-seong, right fielder Kim Seong-yun, second baseman Ryu Ji-hyeok, third baseman Jeon Byung-woo, first baseman Ham Su-ho, designated hitter Kang Min-ho, catcher Kim Jae-seong, shortstop Yang Woo-hyun, and designated hitter Jang Seung-hyeon. The starting pitcher was Matt Manning.
The white team countered by naming left-hander Lee Seung-hyun as the starting pitcher and arranged the batting order as second baseman Shim Jae-hoon, center fielder Kim Ji-chan, first baseman Lewin Diaz, right fielder Ryu Seung-min, left fielder Kim Heon-gon, third baseman Kim Jae-sang, catcher Park Se-hyuk, designated hitter Lee Byung-hun, and shortstop Lee Hae-seung.
The white team won the game 9-0. After being retired in order in the first inning, the white team produced a big inning by showing focus in the second. In the fourth, Lee Byung-hun drove in a run with an RBI hit; in the fifth, Ryu Seung-min added a run with a solo homer over the center field fence; and in the sixth, Park Se-hyuk, Kim Ji-chan, and Diaz added three runs with RBI hits.
White team starting pitcher Manning recorded 2 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, and no runs allowed. The second pitcher, Yuk Sun-yeop, held the line for 2 scoreless innings. Lee Seung-min and Lee Jae-ik each handled one inning with no runs allowed.
A standout was Jang Chan-hee's one-inning, three-strikeout performance. Coming in as the final pitcher in the seventh, he struck out Jeon Byung-woo and Ham Su-ho in succession, then gave up a two-base hit to Kang Min-ho to center-left. He promptly struck out Kim Jae-seong.
Among the white team batters, Kim Ji-chan (4 at-bats, 2 hits, 3 RBIs, 1 run), Ryu Seung-min (4 at-bats, 2 hits including 1 home run, 1 RBI, 2 runs), Kim Jae-sang (4 at-bats, 3 hits, 3 runs), Park Se-hyuk (4 at-bats, 2 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs), and Lee Byung-hun (2 at-bats, 2 hits, 1 RBI) stood out. Diaz had one hit including a double and one RBI, and Kim Heon-gon added a hit and a run.
On the blue team's starting mound, left-hander Lee Seung-hyun pitched 1 2/3 innings and gave up four runs but did not allow a single walk or hit by pitch. Jeong Min-seong, right-hander Lee Seung-hyun, and Im Ki-young took the mound in succession. Bae Chan-seung came in in the sixth and struck out all three batters he faced. Kang Min-ho was the only player on his team to record multiple hits.
Meanwhile, Samsung will play a practice game against the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team at Akama Ballpark on the 20th.
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